August 25: Suarez has received the expected 10-game suspension, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, but is appealing.
August 23: Padres reliever Robert Suarez was ejected from this afternoon’s win over the Marlins following a foreign substance inspection. Called on to pitch the top of the eighth, Suarez was thrown out before throwing a pitch when umpires examined him coming in from the bullpen.
First base umpire Todd Tichenor made the call. After the game, Tichenor told reporters that the right-hander’s left wrist had been “too sticky, very sticky” (via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). Suarez denied using any illicit substance, saying he’d simply applied his typical amount of sunscreen for a day game in San Diego.
Pitchers ejected after a foreign substance check are subject to an automatic 10-game suspension. MLB will presumably formally announce Suarez’s ban tomorrow. He has an appellate right, though an appeal would go in front of an MLB official for adjudication. As a result, the three players previously suspended for foreign substances this season — Max Scherzer, Domingo Germán and Drew Smith — all waived their appeals. Suarez said he hasn’t yet decided whether he’ll do the same.
In all likelihood, the Friars will be without one of their better high-leverage arms for the next week and a half. Suarez posted a 2.27 ERA in 47 2/3 frames last season and subsequently re-signed on a five-year, $46MM free agent guarantee. He missed the first half of this year with an elbow injury. He has allowed seven runs in 13 1/3 innings since returning. Teams aren’t allowed to replace players who have been suspended for an on-field rules violation, so the Padres would have to play with a 25-man roster for the duration of Suarez’s expected suspension.
Saperlipoppette!
The Friar season is over, why the cheating now?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Too much sunscreen on a sunny San Diego day is still illegal to Manfred & Sons.
He went to sleep and woke up with a substance in his hand, some folks may find that worthy of “appealing”…
What constitutes as “too sticky” anyway? Do umpires just go by their gut instinct or is there a science behind it? Manfred needs to lay the specifics out and let everyone know how these violations work, this is unacceptable and I’m not defending the players, just questioning how umpires deem what is a violation.
Clever, Manfred and Sons are committed to junk and junk it is.
Rosters expand to 28 as of 9/1 so if they can drag this out for a few more days, they will actually be able to add 2 new players to their roster while Suarez sits out for 10 games. So they can play with 27 players instead of 28 for 10 days.
“If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying” – Jim Rome.
Fan –
Pretty sure he wasn’t the first to say that. Earnhardt was saying that in the 80’s and he probably wasn’t the first.
If your cheating, you’re a fraud!
If you ain’t first, yer last! – Ricky Bobby
Have you ever filed a tax return? You know what I’m saying Styme.
Jim Rome was a scourge on sports discourse. He let every blowhard with a hot taek think they had something valuable to share. – filihok
I don’t believe in violence, but I wouldn’t have felt too bad if Jim Everett had pounded Rome’s face in.
“I don’t believe in violence, but“ is what people say right before they say something violent.
Agreed. All very subjective and spur of the moment.
“The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced.”
– Frank Zappa
I once sat next to guy who went to college with Rome on a flight to Miami.
He told me a story about how everyone hated Rome! So, one day after a broadcast on the college network this guy and another guy who were in the booth with Rome were fed up with his crap. So they hung him up by his belt loop on a coat hook and left him there. They found out Rome hung there for over an hour.
They used to call him “Daddy’s boy” because they all knew his dad bought his way into the school and into the program.
umm, Jim Rome went to UCSB. how exactly do you buy your way into USSB?
Process is entirely too undefined and subjective to allow an umpire to make a decision on an automatic ten game suspension. The fact that the appeal process is through one person – a league appointed representative is even more subjective.
I came here to say the same thing. I’m fine with the league cracking down on it, but putting blind faith in the umpires to be fair with it is asking for something bad to happen
What if they’re not though? I’m not sticking up for Suarez here but you’re pretty much just taking the umps at their word, and they haven’t exactly been very reliable or trustworthy lately.
If he’s cheating then I’m in favor of the suspension, but it’s a pretty one-sided process and you’re basically just hoping that the umps enforcing it are being honest.
but you’re pretty much just taking the umps at their word,
====================
That’s the same in every facet of sports. We take umps and refs at their word.
But that said, why would an ump toss an RP for nefarious purposes?
@joebrady
It’s really not though. Nearly other umpire decision can be publicly viewed and judged using replay. Everyone knows how awful Angel Hernandez is at calling balls and strikes.
Does anyone know how good umps are at enforcing this sticky stuff policy?
Umps are experts on sticky situations. They are in a sticky situation in a lot in games and they know how to get out of them too. They just confer to the NY office to give the… it was too inconclusive to call. So, the ump’s call stands. LOL
Completely disagree.
In fact, we should let Laz Diaz gift up to 4 runs to a team after a given game formally concludes because he “feels like they earned it.”
I would have thought T Clark would have thrown a fit about the process if it’s as one sided as you say it is. Regardless the Padres have a history of players attempting to gain an individual edge. This team is about individual stats. That’s why they suck
Agreed. If that’s the case then umpires should face suspension without pay when their individual game scores are below a certain percentage.
Who knows if they purposefully were terrible that game? Just like we don’t know if that player was sweating too much on a particularly warm day and used a pinch too much rosin without taking into account the spf70 they had on.
Does the mlb supply teams with the correct legal amount of resin or substance allotted?
If not why doesnt the mlb supply teams with it and why isnt there a rule stating player must apply said substance in front of an official in the pen and on the field like umps? Mlb adds food coloring to the substance prior to the game so it cant be just any old substance.
Seems like a lot of these issues would clear up if mlb took steps to get everyone to use the same alotted material and not some ump saying wait a minute its tooo sticky! Not very scientific or accurate too subjective.
Manfred likes his rules vague, so he can apply pressure on enforcement as he sees fit. (See blocking home plate)
JSC: So right. The rule for blocking the plate changes from one ump to another. The incident with Suarez shows what a hypocrite Manfred is. He’s cracking down on pitcher’s using foreign substances while at the same time he is having the minor leagues use a tacky ball which he intends to use to screw up the major leagues even more. Suarez said the foreign substance was sunscreen. The umps should have those giant Q-tips and swab the alleged foreign substance, then have it tested. If it turns out to be a legit substance, the umpire that made the call should be penalized.
This makes it easier to nudge the games towards teams with larger fanbases and bankable stars (see Kings v. Lakers 2002 series).
My wife likes to lather me up when we go to Reds games. Sometimes I end up pretty sticky. Not sure if there’s more to it in this case, but I also get pretty sticky for ball games.
Cincyfan85: This just in: Baseball commissar manfred has made it mandatory for ushers to check all fans. Anyone stuck to their seats due to a foreign substance will be hosed off before being asked to leave. Seats must be returned to the stadium in the next 48 hours or, if applicable, their season tickets will be revoked.
I’m happy that your wife lathers you up, Cincy, but please keep your kinky preferences to yourself!
Only on her hands, face, and a little on the chest.
Hey little stevie, did you get arrested for watching your Mom poop yet? You need to be put in the electric chair, Not your highchair, you little perv!
Nothing going right for the gaslampers
Yesterday’s win was the first in that epic run we keep hearing about. All they have to do is win out, and they’re good!
Sun screen! lol
And so continues the Padres’ 2023 season…
To anyone who seems ok with this really vague, arbitrary rule.. just wait until it happens to your team in the post season…
Just tell your pitchers to quit cheating. There. Problem solved.
Yeah, wearing sunscreen in SD in the summer. Such a heinous crime, the player should be banned for life. Just ask Shoeless Joe.
LOL! Has anyone ever NOT had an excuse for using PEDs or the sticky stuff?
“Really vague, arbritrary rule”..Of course you could try a new “Defund the Umpires” campaign, but attacking the enforcement instead of the cheaters rarely works.
But it is a vague arbitrary rule that is determined not by an actual scientific measurement but by a personal/individual opinion of what the phrase “too sticky” means.
Thankfully we dont give people DUIs based on cops saying you appear too drunk or high. We have a standard limit defined by science as to what is acceptable, 0.08 bac/bal
Mlb needs to have a scientifically acceptable standard of what is acceptable or needs to ban use of substances all together.
Banning substances probably isnt smart since it does help guys throwing 99 100 mph. But the mlb should and needs to provide teams with substances pre made for pitchers and thats the only thing they can use. Minors and pros.
It doesn’t seem to be being enforced arbitrarily. How many games have been played and there have been 4 suspensions. This hardly seems like umps on a power trip that need to be put in check.
All 4 of them get together before ejecting the player. All 4 would have to be in on the conspiracy.
The rules state that only the MLB supplied rosin (which is on the mound) is allowed to be used. If the player is sticky before even getting to the mound, that’s the players own fault.
Just because something doesn’t happen often doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen arbitrarily.
@raisinsss True but it does seem like they are using discretion and only ejecting the most egregious offenders. This does not appear to be a case of umpires going rogue. All 4 agreed that he needed to be tossed.
Nobody said or implied umps were on a power trip.
But an umps definition of too sticky isnt consistent between umps. What one ump considers too sticky another might say is only slightly more sticky than usual. Hence the issue.
Its dependent on human error and interpretation based on feeling a substance.
Also all 4 umps didnt feel the substance.
You can clearly see in the video one ump doing the process and maybe the home plate umpire touching it but cant tell. The other 2 never touched it.
So not sure why 4 umps matter when one ump goes
Hey this feels really sticky and the others dont even touch it and just go along with it. Real scientific and accurate process.
espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38247262/padres-robert-sua…
Didn’t help him in the NLCS last year
It actually did, however Bryce Harper just happened to spit on one of the nastiest changeups he’s seen, and then went yard. That one fastball that went over the fence definitely didn’t define his season or value to the Padres run!
Everything swings like a pendulum. In the past there was no enforcement and spin rates went way up, immediately after implementation of the checks avg spin rates go down. It will balance itself out and something will be figured out.Honestly lots of pitchers were just used to using stuff and can’t seem to perform the same without it. But if you can’t throw a baseball with rosin and sweat consistently without too much issue then what’s up with that? Haven’t you all been doing it most of your lives? Yes, pitchers probably need something more but looking at how some guys spin rates went down 400rpm immediately after the pitcher checks shows that many pitchers were benefitting their butts off. Like anything else the minority ruins it for the majority. There is a difference between help gripping and using some of what has been used. Pitchers always fuss about batters cheating in steroid era but when sticky stuff can get some guys an extra 500rpm on a pitch how is that much different? There is no other way to start enforcing this than to let it swing this far the other way and then come to an agreement about something that can be used.
My problem with this is everyone wants to side with people they think are being mistreated and a pitcher comes out like Cole literally whining that he can’t throw strikes with Rosin and sweat (like seemingly he did his entire life until professional years) and everyone wants to join the boycott against MLB. But in this particular case there is nobody more blind to the overall effect of this stuff on the game than pitchers themselves. It has become so second nature that they literally can’t even pitch without cheating and when that’s pointed out they say it wasn’t cheating cause everyone did it…the same pitchers fussing about steroid users.lol. Does anyone have a violin? If throwing a baseball with sweat and rosin makes you injure yourself then you don’t even know how to throw a baseball without cheating. Why is that? You seem saintly when your argument is that you just don’t wanna hit batters and need some grip, ignoring the absurd rise in spin rates.
Pitchers aren’t allowed a sticky substance yet hitters can put bat grips, pine tar or any sticky substance for a better grip on the bat.
Yes, ball vs bat can be debated but let’s stop pretending that cheating is one sided. Better grip on bats is advantageous for the hitter.
its_happening: I wouldn’t worry about it. When Manfred introduces his tacky balls, it’ll all even out.
I know they should have something but batting is different entirely imo. And batting gloves can’t be abused to produce better bat speed. It’s simply a matter of comfort. Batting is a split second reaction. There is no split second reaction for a pitcher except with their glove. That’s why even with pine tar bats go flying. Batters have helmets to protect against pitches. A spectator has no protection against a flying bat. Theres many other reasons.
The whole post is devils advocate btw.
Yep. I see hitters with pine tar, bat grip, pad protection beyond helmets and the pitchers having rosin bags and plenty of restrictions.
Because a pitcher is throwing a ball very hard. Of course the batter has protection and help to grip the bat because of the split second reactions. Pitchers have a calculated, flowing motion. Batters do too but it’s only to an extent because they are reacting to something while pitchers are the ones initiating the action. Because a pitcher is unlikely to throw the ball in the stands but a bat can go flying in an awkward direction because of the mechanics of swinging a bat and those people, unlike the batter, have no protection except for nets for some of them.
Are there any any restrictions on hitters’ use of sticky substances?
As I said a sticky substance for a hitter hardly provides any notable chance of abuse. Sticky substances for a pitcher can change their entire career by potentially allowing them several 100 more rpm on their pitches. If they only used it for grip that would be fine. But something is being done to ensure what exactly they are using. They need something more I think but now we know that typically they use rosin and sweat. The clamping down has led to a universal approved substance which is rosin at the moment but ultimately will be more than rosin in all likelihood. It will take time to develop because you would have to do testing and see how much pitches spin differently based on the substance which would probably take implementing it in the minor leagues or using scientific tests at the least.
Note also that clearing the field of any other substances being used creates a baseline for studies, as well, for the most part. Now we know what pitchers do with just rosin at the major league level. If you introduce a new substance you could compare the stats now.
Padres fan and season ticket holder here….
Sunscreen is almost as believable as ringworm
Have you never used Banana Boat, Lotrimin, and Gold Bond together?
1-Why is he even applying sunscreen? How long does an RP stay out there for? He throws 16 pitches. That might take 10 minutes. I’ll use sunscreen going to the beach, but not if I am going to be outside for 10 minutes.
2-The inning started at about 3:00. Not exactly when the sun is at its shineyist.
Bc it’s smart as you don’t want skin cancer and premature skin aging later in life? Some people can also get sunburnt on a cloudy day.
1. Its san diego 3pm in august is 75-80 sunshine easy
2. Between sitting in the pen all day, warming up, and going to throw his inning he spent more than 10 minutes exposed to the sun. Hence sunscreen.
Hahaha…in San Diego near the border, any wonder why there was a “foreign” substance?
Get back to the good ol’days of spit balls and playing with the same ball all game.
Padres are sinking fast
Yankee pitchers are told to go wash their hands and then they can continue.
what kind of sunscreen is sticky? they’re all oily and slick. he cheated and got caught then came up with the world’s dumbest excuse.
Tell me you’ve never applied rosin without telling me you’ve never applied rosin…
He should use some of Tatis’ ringworm medication. I hear it will add 20% to a pitcher’s spin rate.
How dare you disrespect Mr. Ringworm himself like that! Whatever it takes to make that ringworm go in to remission.
Ringworm has 4.7 war in 2023, Aaron Judge is only 3.4 war in 2023
I don’t use that crap (sunscreen) with all the Alzheimer causing aluminum in it, but isn’t sunscreen slippery, not sticky at all?
I use several types of sunscreen. I would say they tend to be slick, and make you sweat more. Maybe he did put something on his wrist for grip, I’m ok with it since he plays for my team.
We weren’t there. It should take two umpires vs just one.
Yeah guys please just be careful with some of these sunscreens, they are known to cause different type of cancers amongst other problems like infertility. It’s not a joke like Tatis ringworm. I’m just glad Tatis ringworm is 100% in remission. Ohtani is coming to San Diego next season you think? If so pretty exciting!
@Vegas All 4 checked before the ejection. All 4 agreed he was in violation.
Dude was wearing long sleeves and the “sun screen” was on his gloved hand.
A light fabric light colored shirt will block the sun and help keep you cool. Rosin from the mound is the only thing they’re supposed to use. Try a shirt instead of sunscreen if you don’t want to lose the pay for 10 games
If the substance is excessive, run the pitcher for that game, scrape some off and have it analyzed. If it truly was sunscreen, no further penalty. If it proves to be something else, then the nine additional days. Hate the idea of leaving a ten day suspension up to the Joe West crowd. If Suarez cheated, ten days is appropriate. Given how damaging a ten day suspension is to the teams involved, more certainty is called for.
I wonder if they’re going to be checking Gaylord Perry out at Spring Training next year? Better make sure that’s an indelible pen he is using to sign for you
If he were a Yankee, he would have been given time to go take a shower and then come back and pitch.
Per Jon Heyman? How long was Arson Judge suspended!?
I mean… sunscreen isn’t sticky. So…. yeah.
I really love the chances of the Giants signing Arson Judge in 2024, instead of Shohei Ohtani. In Heyman we trust!
Very expensive for the team, playing with 24! Welcome back Hader aide for the series against my Brewers!
SPF 50?
Play .750 ball and they have a shot. What a bad joke. Does Suarez get to pitch during the appeal? when is the appeal? Way to report on the obvious questions. Last, There’s got to be a hundred better places to put sticky stuff than your wrist. Cmon, get creative, dude! Who goes to their glove hand wrist with their pitching hand? Add the number of times they swap to a new ball and it’s impractical anyway.
I don’t use sunscreen. Is it actually “sticky”
When confronted 100 percent of ball players have lied 100 percent of the time.
All I can say is it is pretty bad when they have to keep attempting to cheat their way to the playoffs and keep getting caught. À la Tatis, Suarez, Musgrove (though not officially indicted, but suspicious).
It was probably just white sauce from a fish taco. Maybe he was having some Rubio’s in the pen prior to warming up